Analyst Lists Giants as One of Five Teams Who Should Consider Tanking for a Quarterback

Tank for rank? That’s what Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine has suggested for the New York Giants and five other NFL teams who might be looking to land a premium pick in next year’s draft to use on a quarterback. 

“Whether the Giants can afford to tank in 2024 probably depends on whether owner John Mara is able to extend some grace to Brian Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen for the Daniel Jones contract,” Ballentine wrote.

Ok, let’s stop right there. First, there is no way John Mara, one-half of the team’s ownership and a man who, it’s well-known, hates to lose, would ever sign off on such a proposal. 

None. Zero. Nada. Mark it in the book in permanent ink.

Second, just think of the message tanking would send to a locker room filled with athletes who have trained year-round for the 17-game NFL season and a chance for the playoffs. 

Why bother practicing? Attending meetings? Doing anything to support the season, which by the way happens to be the Giants’ 100th in existence and one in which they have big plans still to be announced to celebrate the proud tradition of the franchise’s history?

Ballentine’s reason for even suggesting the Giants tank: to get a quarterback in next year’s draft.

But come on. First, while we can project which quarterbacks could be in the draft next year, all it takes is for an injury or for an undergraduate prospect people think might declare to change his mind. 

And who’s to say–gasp!–that Daniel Jones, the incumbent who now has a better offensive line and a No. 1 receiver in Malik Nabers, might not actually look like a top-15 quarterback by the time the season is over? 

Seriously, we get that Jones hasn’t inspired confidence among part of the fan base and media alike, but before suggesting the Giants give up on him and take on a $22.2 million dead money cap hit in 2025, don’t the Giants at least owe it to themselves and to Jones to see if he is closer to being the quarterback who led the team to the playoffs in 2022?

So no, the Giants aren’t going to throw the season away just for the sake of competing for the No. 1 overall draft pick, no matter how many people urge them to tank. Brian Daboll won’t allow it. Joe Schoen won’t allow it. Ownership won’t allow it.

And not just because it’s the franchise’s 100th anniversary but because purposely tanking compromises the integrity of the game’s competitive spirit, which in case anyone forget, angered Giants fans when a few years ago then Eagles coach Doug Pederson decided to get cute by pulling his starting quarterback which in turn threw a game against the Washington Commanders and eliminated the Giants from the postseason.

Ballentine is being fair when he writes that “it feels like this offense is still far from providing the Giants with a contender,” because hey, until proven otherwise, there are question marks still on this team.

But those question marks don’t just sit with the quarterback position. Will the offensive line truly be better? Will the running game survive the loss of Saquon Barkley? Will Malik Nabers come as advertised? Who will take on the snaps and targets previously contributed by the recently retired Darren Waller at tight end.

Oh, and drafting a quarterback within the first five or so picks doesn’t necessarily mean that a team has automatically found the next Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, C.J. Stroud, or Joe Burrow. Yes, the odds are in your favor, but it’s not a sure thing. 

So just say no to the idea of the Giants tanking, especially after how they fought to the bitter end last year with their playoff hopes hanging by a thread and then eventually snuffed out. 

If Jones proves to not be the answer, Schoen will cross that bridge when he gets to it. That time, however, isn’t now for a Giants team that is looking to snap a mostly decade-plus long streak of lousy football.